What If I Had Never Let You Go?
by sazcmc
Summary: Troy and Sharpay were together for a very long time but when they went into High School, Troy ignored and avoided her. She never got over it and became the Ice Queen. Now, years later Troy wants to apologise, but is he too late? R&R Can be continued!


**What If I Had Never Let You Go?**

Sharpay sighed and looked at the picture of her and Troy together. He had his arm around her and was pulling her close to him with a huge grin spread across her face. Her hands were clasped with his across her chest and was also smiling widely at the camera. Ryan had taken the picture when they had become Freshmen in East High School. It had been the day before they had gone back to school. Sharpay felt a hot tear in her eye threatening to fall, the last day they had spent together as a couple and they had been so happy. But the very next day, Troy had changed for the worst.

_Here I stand alone  
__With this weight upon my heart  
__And it will not go away  
__In my head I keep on looking back  
__Right back to the start  
__Wondering what it was that made you change_

Sharpay remembered the next day too, walking into the school excited to see Troy. They had homeroom together and he had promised she could sit next to him, and they would eat lunch together, walk home together when he didn't have basketball practise. She felt her heart race when she saw him that morning hanging out by the noticeboard with his new basketball jock friends. Sharpay knew they would be the schools most popular couple, most likely to get married perhaps? She walked up to him and greeted him with a kiss to the lips and he had his arms around her although his hug was different, not as tight and less gentle. It seemed forced.She looked at him oddly when we broke apart and then noticed that Chad his new friend was giving her a dirty look.

"Whats your problem?" She asked defiantly, Sharpay had a bit of temper she couldn't control.

"You. What does it look like?" Chad retorted. It seemed he had a short temper too. He had taken a disliking to Sharpay the moment they met.

"Well I didn't do anything to bother you." She said and glared at him.

"You'll be a distraction to our main man here, Troy." Chad said and punched Troys arm playfully. It was obvious Troy was trying to be modest.

"What are you talking about?" Sharpay asked confused.

"You mean Troy didn't tell you he was made captain?" Chad asked surprised, "What kind of relationship do you two have?"

"Ohhh!" The basketball boys all taunted and held their hands up to cover their mouths, Sharpay looked hurt and Troy looked sheepishly at the ground before Chad spun him round with his arm around Troys shoulder and they walked down the corridor leaving Sharpay standing there alone.

"What just happened?" Ryan asked as he came up behind her.

"Nothing..." Sharpay said, unsure "I think."

_Well I tried but I had to draw the line  
__And still this question keeps on spinning in my mind_

It had continued much like this for two weeks, Troy had started avoiding her and stopped taking her calls. She gave up and then with one last phone call, she had broken up with him in an answering machine message and then cried for hours. They had been together for a year and a half and he had thrown it away for populartiy and Chad. She was angry, and in her despair promised herself never to have her heart broken by anybody ever again. And that night she changed herself, she went from Fun-Loving Happy Sharpay to the Ice Queen Bitch. And Sharpay was definite to stay like that.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Ryan asked concerned.

"Of course it is." She snapped, he looked hurt and she softened, "I will never have my heart broken again."

They had walked into the school that day, she swiftly walked past Troy without a second glance at him, acting the way she assumed he wanted her to. Like they had never known eachother, never mixed in the same circles at all. And according to her, they hadn't. Ryan gave Troy a fleeting glare as they passed but he had tried to ignore it, he was more confused by the way Sharpay was acting and tried to go after her but Chad stopped him.

"Leave it, you have us now. You don't need her." Chad said.

_What if I had never let you go?  
Would you be the man I used to know?  
__If I'd stayed, if you'd tried  
__If we could only turn back time  
__But I guess, we'll never know_

That day had been the beginning of the rest of their lives, and when Gabriella had come along she was surprised when Troy started to go against her. Had he completely forgotten their history?Apparently so. She had been hurt but of course, being the Ice Queen she had never shown it to anybody but Ryan, who had wanted to kill Troy by the point. She looked at Troy sitting in the back of the theatre when her and Ryan had been performing "What I've Been Looking For" and knew he had been blown away. Her dramatic side had been one he had never seen for she had only turned to the theatre after their break-up in a desperate act to be something in the school. In fact, not long afterwards he had grabbed her after school.

"Why didn't you sing when you were with me?" He had whispered into her ear, she had nearly melted there and then.

"Why didn't _you_ sing when you were with me?" She asked him, he was thrown and she continued, "What makes Gabriella so special anyway? Because she has precious Chads approval? If I had known you were going to turn out the way you did, I would never have wasted a year and a half of my life with you." She sneered and he let her go, she walked away quickly feeling tears in her eyes. Sharpay hated having to speak to Troy, it reminded her of what could have been and she didn't want to think of might-have beens.

_Many roads to take  
__Some to joy, some to heartache  
__Anyone can lose their way  
__And if I said that we could turn it back  
__Right back to the start  
__Would you take the chance and make the change?_

Sharpay remembered when she had left for university. Julliard: Her and Ryan had both been accepted so their parents had gone all out and bought them an apartment nearby Julliard and she was so excited to be going to live in New York, she couldn't remember ever being this excited. When she had packed up her main belongings and put them in the big moving truck along with Ryans, gotten into her 17th birthday present a pink convertable and driven out of Alberquerque she remembered when she passed Troys house he too was packing to leave for university. She had heard he had got some basketball scholarship somewhere, like his father had always wanted. Sharpay knew that had never been his dream.

Troy looked up as a pink convertable slowly drove past his house, followed by Ryans silver one, it would be the Evan twins leaving to make their road trip up to New York, it was a long way to go but they had a plan, he had heard it around school they had been accepted into Julliard. Troy thought back on the last two years and sent a nod in Sharpays direction, who looked away from him. He regretted what had happened when they entered High School and he always had, every day but he couldn't ever admit that to her.

"Hey Troy!" Gabriella walked out of his house excitedly, him and her were going to the same university, he wasn't exactly looking forward to it.

"Hey Gabi." He said distantly, watching the cars up at the end of the street pull round the corner and most likely right out of his life.

"Aren't you excited? I'm excited. Are you excited?!"She asked excitedly and kissed him on the lips, he nodded.

"I'm excited." He said rather sadly.

"You don't sound excited." Gabriella pouted.

_Do you think how it would have been sometimes?  
Do you pray that I'd never left your side?_

Sharpay remembered her years in university had been great, she had returned to her old Fun-Loving self and got more involved in singing rather than acting, Ryan had become more an actor. And they had graduated as some of the highest in the class with many oppertunities. Sharpay had signed on to a record label and released over 5 Number Ones and two albums. Ryan had starred s the lleading role in three films with his label and was now starring in a hit TV show.

Sharpay lived life like she never knew Troy Bolton although he was still in her heart, he had been a big part of her life for her entire childhood and middle school, it was High School that had changed it for everyone. Ryan and her went to all the glitzy premieres and lived the high life. They heard Troy was a basketball player for some group in the NBA league and was quite famous on the sports side of things, he was on cereal boxes she knew that much. Not any cereal she bought though.

Sharpay stepped out of the limo and onto the red carpet in her long golden dress thatdragged across the floor in a graceful fashion, it was a halterneck and hung loosely on her, it made her look beautiful the way her hair was up but sort of messy like she had only spent two minutes on it, her make up was glittery and golden. Ryan stepped out after her in a black suit and a white shirt looking very pristine and neat he put his hand on the small of his sisters back and they posed for photographs with smiling faces and then walked in to the premiere building.

Troy was inside also, his fame had come later in his life and this was the first premiere he had ever been to. He was quite nervous and was standing rather awkwardly to the side as all the more famous celebrities walked in, he had been invited to an after party and wasn't sure if he was going to go. It was then Troy saw her, Sharpay Evans walking in and looked elegant, graceful and fun-loving. Like she had been when they were together, the breath caught in his throat as she looked up at him and immediately acted like he wasn't there.

_What if I had never let you go?  
__Would you be the man I used to know?  
__If I'd stayed, If you'd tried  
__If we could only turn back time  
__But I guess, we'll never know_

Troy continued seeing Sharpay at events, but she was still pretending like he wasn't there. Had he really hurt her so bad? He tried to walk over to her but Ryan got there first, whispering in her ear to come this way, someone important wanted to speak to her and so she was off to boost her career. He was really proud of her, and he wanted to share his pride with her.

Two weeks later the oppertunity came again, Sharpay was standing alone at a nightclub and Troy began to stride quickly over to her, she took one glance at him and spun around but he grabbed her wrist to stop her just in time.

"Sharpay, please hear me out. Its been ten years, you can't still be made at me?" He whispered. She turned to face him.

"Troy, you took my heart out and stomped on it, then let me watch it wither and die.I can't forgive you for that." She looked like she might cry.

"Please, I am begging you Sharpay. Please forgive me." He pleaded.

She fought away tears and slipped her wrist out of his grasp before walking away. The owner of the nightclub got up onto the stage and smiled.

"Now I am proud to give a big hand to our guest singer tonight, Sharpay Evans!" He said happily and Sharpay got up onto the stage, all smiles and full of modesty.

"Thank you." She said and grinned out to the audience, "This song is quite a sad song, I wrote it when I was in High School and it seems the right time to actually sing it."

_If only we could turn the hands of time  
__If I could take it back would you still be mine?_

Troy was shocked by the song so far, it was to him he knew it. She had been looking at him the whole way through and if that wasn't a sign nothing was. He was determined to get her back, him and Gabriella had broken up in college. She had done to him exactly what he had done to Sharpay and thats how he knew how much it hurt. When she finished and walked off the stage he ran over to her, they were in the VIP area so she was not being surrounded by fans.

"Sharpay! Please listen to me..." He pleaded. She looked around.

"Wheres Gabriella?" She asked.

"We broke up. In college. Actually, she started getting all distant with me, and avoided me..." His voice trailed off and he looked at the ground sheepishly.

"Friends didn't approve of you?" She asked. Troy shook his head pitifully and she added sarcastically, "My heart bleeds for you."

With that she walked away a little, leaving Troy standing there she looked back and said sincerely, "At least you know how it feels now."

_What if I had never let you go?  
__Would you be the man I used to know?  
__What if I had never walked away?  
Cause I still love you more than I can say_

Troy approached Sharpay as she left the nightclub and was heading to her limo.

"Sharpay!" He called out and made a go to grab her hand, he was stopped by a rather large burly man blocked him from reaching her. Sharpay looked tiny in comparison. "Sorry.." He breathed in shock and looked up at the man who was glaring down at him from behind dark sunglasses.

"No wait. Its okay, he's okay." Sharpay said and the man stepped aside so he could see her, she looked sad.

"Shar..." He said, daring to use her nickname.

"Don't call me that." She snapped, he hadn't called her that since the last day they had spent together before they went into High School together and she didn't intend on hearing it now.

"Sorry." He said quickly, "Look I am so sorry for what I did to you back then. I am, I regret it. I regretted it then and I do now. I should have never gone along with Chad and that stupid team."

"Troy you know I didn't care about you being in the team. I supported you, I was happy for you. I wasn't happy when you ignored me and started ignoring and avoiding me."

"I'm sorry okay. Really, can we please just start over?" Troy held out his hand for her to shake.

_If I'd stayed, if you'd tried  
__If we could only turn back time  
__But I guess, we'll never know_

Sharpay opened her mouth to speak, looking into Troys eyes as he looked deeply into hers, she seemed stuck for words and just when she was about to answer a man walked over to her and put his arm around her shoulders, holding her close. She almost looked regretful, Troy looked questioningly at Sharpay and the guy. Sharpay took a deep breath.

"Troy...this is Drew Seely." She said.

"Hey man." Drew said with a smile, his arm firmly but gentle on Sharoays shoulders, he kissed Sharpays cheek and smiled at her, she smiled back.

"Hey..." Troy said slowly, trying to process what was going on.

"I met him in Julliard, and we've been dating ever since. He proposed last month..." She let her voice trail off at the end, and not once looked Troy in the eye.

"Oh right." Troy tried not to show the hurt in his voice.

"Yep!" Drew said happily, "I am the luckiest guy ever." He squeezed Sharpays shoulder.

"You are." Troy said sadly.

"Getting married in the summer!" Drew said happily, obviously having not heard Troys comment, but Sharpay had and she looked up at him with wide eyes. Then Drew looked at her and said, "We better get home, its late and you have a busy day tomorrow."

Troys heart bled, he wanted that to be _him_ telling her they should go home, being all concerned for her. All because of a stupid mistake in High School he missed out.

"You're right." She said and looked back at Troy, "Maybe if it had been different..."

Troy cut her off, "I know. I know." He said sorrowfully.

With that they walked away and Troy knew it would be forever, Drew, Sharpay and Sharpays bodyguard. He knew as she stepped into the limo that it would be the last time he ever saw her.

"Who was that?" Troy heard Drew ask Sharpay as they walked, neither of them looked back.

"Just some guy I used to know." She replied and still did not look back as Troy watched them go Drew helped Sharpay into the bac of the limo and sat in beside her, the door closed behind them and Troy watched it drive away.

He sighed, he was stupid and he lost her.

The car finally went out of his sight, and out of his life. Forever.

_We'll never know..._


End file.
